An Alliance of the Brave
by sorallellow
Summary: The Big Four Hunger Games AU Jack, Punz, Merrida and Hiccup form an alliance to win the Hunger Games. Will they be able to outrun the infamous Calhoun, fight the bloodthirsty Hans and kill Hiccup's cut-throat cousin Snotlout? A twisted version of the Pixar/Disney films which includes some very dark and gory scenes. *Jackunzel and Merricup* too.
1. Chapter 1

Rapunzel's foot slipped and she heard a twig snap from below. Ohhhh no.

"Hey, keep it down or we'll both be killed." She looked up to see the District 11 boy balancing nimbly on a high branch. Like her, he'd obviously decided that climbing was the safest option. Rapunzel nodded begrudgingly and crouched down, listening intently to their pursuers on the jungle floor.

"Give it a rest, Calhoun. There's no one here." A huge 17 year old said, putting one of his ginormous hands on his companions shoulder.

"Don't push it, Ralph- I heard someone." She replied, brushing him off. "And I'm never mistaken."

"Then where are they?!" Ralph looked around impatiently.

Calhoun glared at him. "We'll find them. And when we do, there will be nowhere to hide. For now, let's set up camp."

"Sheesh, you're the boss." Ralph threw up his hands and began collecting firewood.

Rapunzel looked up again and saw the boy motioning left. Again she nodded, silently following his lead as he jumped across the trees towards the clearing.

Jack invited this girl into his camp even though she could attack him at any moment. He wondered why he had decided to trust her. She was pretty, and a long time ago the waist length blond hair and green eyes would've been his thing. Now, the hair was something to grab if she came too close, a liability for her and a weapon for him.

"Thankyou." The girl said simply- breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

"Don't mention it." Jack began empty his supplies from his rucksack.

She cleared her throat, "I'm Rapunzel, by the way. District 1."

"Good for you." He replied bluntly. "Now pass me your bag."

"Why?"

"Because I'm letting you stay in my camp, that's why."

"Tell me your name." Rapunzel handed over her bag and moved closer to him.

"Jack." Her face was just centimetres away from his. He swallowed. "District 11."

She smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "If we wake up early and climb quickly, we'll be able to outrun them."

It took a couple of seconds before Jack realized she was expecting a reply. "Yes," He said finally "But Calhoun's smart. She'll figure out that we're in the trees and cut us off."

"Then we go back the way I came."

"Are you crazy? That's where Elsa's team are hiding!"

Rapunzel sighed. "Well do you have a better idea?"

"We could stay here and make it look like we've gone towards the lake." He suggested, but she shook her head.

"Sue would figure it out, like you said she's smart."

They sat in silence for a while, wondering what they should do. It was a good couple of minutes before Jack finally asked "Does this mean we're going to work together?"

"I guess so. Your climbing skills are definitely useful."

He smiled for what seemed like the first time in forever. "You're not too bad yourself."

* * *

Hiccup was out of luck. Just a couple of hours ago he thought he had a chance, a small one, but a chance never-the-less. He needed to win the games, get home and tell Astrid how he felt and then... Well, he hadn't thought about what would happen after that. This whole scenario was riding on the idea he would win, but now he wasn't so sure.

First of all, the Game-maker, Gothel, had decided this year the games would take place in a jungle- a habitat Hiccup was far from used to living in the cold climate of District 10. Then, as soon as the Hunger Games began, his own ally had thrown an axe at his head, proclaiming that he would be the one to kill him. Soon afterwards Hiccup saw he'd joined forces with Elsa and Hans, the two volunteers from District 2. From the training it was clear they were as brutal as Snotlout- perhaps even more.

All in all it was not going well. Hiccup was a skinny boy, not memorable to get sponsors, not threatening enough to scare away any attackers but too brave to be forgotten about by the other tributes. The only thing he had going for him was that he was smart, yet his brains were useless in this unfamiliar course. Any hopes of surviving were slowly disappearing as he hid in a small cave, alone and injured. He had managed to avoid an axe in his head and instead it had caught his shoulder, ripping apart any chance he had of fighting.

Hiccup wondered dully if he would bleed to death before Snotlout managed to kill him, that would surely be a kinder fate than the one his cousin had in store for him.

The sun began to set, sending its orange rays across the entire jungle. Rapunzel sat cross legged in one of the tallest trees in the arena, watching the sky in awe.

"It's the most beautiful sunset I've seen." Smiling, she pushed her knees up to her chin.

"Too bad it's not real." Jack spoke from behind her. Rapunzel raised her eyebrows as he sat down next to her, his brown hair slightly ruffled from the climb.

"It doesn't matter though. It's still lovely."

Jack eyed her thoughtfully. "Of course it matters if it's real or not."

She cocked her head slightly and replied "Not the way I see it. As long as you enjoy the view and have good company to share it with, nothing else counts."

He chuckled and moved slightly closer to Rapunzel. "But you can't judge a sunset unless you see it in my district- the views truly are beautiful."

"I'll have to take your word on it." She ran her fingers through her golden hair, attempting to disentangle the leaves and twigs that had gotten stuck in it.

Jack sighed. "If we're going to work together, you need to cut your hair."

"No way." She said bluntly and continued to comb it with her fingers.

"Yes way. Look, I'm not going to work with you unless you do something with it."

"Then it's your loss." She rolled her eyes at him. "This is my hair and I'll do what I want with it."

Jack narrowed his eyes- she was behaving like a spoiled child. He wanted her on his 'team' but he was going to have to show her what a danger having her waist-length hair was.

"It's almost dark. Are we going to sleep up here or in your camp?" Rapunzel asked, carefully rising from her seat.

"Let's sleep in the camp, it means we won't have to climb down the tree tomorrow morning." She offered her hand and he took it, allowing her to help him stand.

"We're going to travel on foot?"

"Just until we reach the lake." She gave him a questioning look and Jack sighed. "In the trees we're less-vulnerable, but we're also louder, slower and have a harder route than Calhoun. We need to make sure we get to the lake _before_ her, so our only option is on foot."

"Right... And after that, we're going in the trees?" Jack began to climb down the trunk and Rapunzel, after seeing what he was doing, followed him.

"Let's finish this conversation when we reach the bottom."

"Why, can't handle the climb?" She joked.

Jack laughed, manoeuvring himself under a branch. "As if you could keep up!"

* * *

From a quick glance outside, Hiccup knew that it was going to be dark soon. He also knew he couldn't hide here forever, he'd seen it on countless reruns of the Hunger Games. Sooner or later, a beast or disaster would drive him out of his cave- either killing him then and there or leaving that to the other tributes. He had to start moving before it got dark, regardless of the searing pain in his right shoulder.

Hiccup began to shuffle his way out the small dark cave he had wedged himself into, and was almost completely out before he heard two people approach his hiding-place. Watching from a small crack between two rocks, he saw a young boy and girl emerged from the trees. He guessed they were around 17.

"How does it feel to be beaten, Jack?" The girl teased, hitting 'Jack' on the shoulder.

This was bad. They didn't exactly seem menacing but as Hiccup well knew, looks could be deceiving. He tried to shove himself back in the cave, but his arm was too painful and there wasn't enough time. Instead, Hiccup ducked behind the rocks.

"Oh shove off! You cheated-"

A twig snapped under Hiccup's foot, he cursed silently and held his breath.

"Someone's watching us." The girl said, drawing out the knife wedged in her belt.

Jack nodded and moved slowly towards Hiccup's hiding spot. This was it. He was going to be killed no matter what, he might as well use the only thing he had left- his brain.

"Uh, could you help me?" Jack and the girl looked curiously at each other and then back at the rock blocking him from view. "I'm a bit stuck."


	2. Chapter 2

The three tributes sat within the warm glow of a campfire; hidden amongst the rocks Hiccup had found a couple of hours ago. He could hardly believe his luck- not only had he managed not to get killed by two very able opponents, but they had actually decided to trust him. The pretty girl with green eyes and long golden hair, he learned her name was Rapunzel, was expertly tending to his wounds. Jack was observing him from across the fire, and there was something odd about his expression. It didn't intimidate him, just made Hiccup a little on-edge. He quickly broke eye contact and turned to Rapunzel. "H-how did you learn to um…" He gestured awkwardly to the arm she was bandaging.

She looked up at him and smiled warmly. "My mother taught me to be a healer. I tended the villagers in my District with her… But that was before she…" Rapunzel shook her head and continued with the bandage. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."

"N-no! That's really cool!" Hiccup exclaimed, feeling bad for bringing up an obviously sore topic. "I wish I could have been helped people like that. My family are black-smiths, and I'm not exactly the hammer wielding type."

"Then that makes two of us." She said, tying the last strings together. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut-off by a loud cough coming from an obnoxious Jack Overland.

"If you two have finished sharing back stories, I'd like to get on with our strategy." Rapunzel rolled her eyes, but turned to face him. "Hiccup?"

"Uh, yes?" He replied.

"Punz and I let you live because you're different to us. You're smart." He said, and to his surprise, she nodded in agreement.

"Jack's right. We're not the thinking-ahead sort of people. Which was fine, until we got into a bit of a 'situation' with Calhoun."

"The District 3 girl?" Hiccup swallowed, realizing that his fear of Snotlout was diminutive to how he felt about some of the other tributes.

"That's the one. All we know is that she's teamed up with Ralph and that she'll stop at nothing to kill us." Rapunzel said, biting her lip at Hiccup's expression.

"Basically, we need to get rid of her." Jack added.

With both of their gazes' heavy on his shoulders, Hiccup was extremely worried about what would happen if he couldn't help them. He knew Rapunzel had a kind streak, but it didn't look like it was a shared trait- Jack kind of scared him. Even if they managed to kill Calhoun and Ralph, Elsa's alliance was waiting just around the corner. And what would happen if they survived them? Wouldn't Jack just kill him anyway?

Hiccup sighed and, taking a deep breath, turned to Rapunzel. "I think I may have an idea.

Do you remember the red-head from District 7?" 

* * *

"Did you see those District 6 tributes? We _completely_ took them by surprise." A blond fourteen-year-old said, shaking his head and laughing. "What utter losers."

"Yeah, yeah, brag all you want. One wrong move and you would have ruined it." The girl replied, rolling her eyes at the boy who was following her like a puppy. She looked like she was a couple of years older than him, or at least acted like it.

"Lighten up, Vi! You weren't too bad yourself." He smirked, flicking the jet-black braid that hung over her shoulder. "Or are you just mad because I was the one who-"

Before the boy could finish his sentence an arrow whizzed through the air, slicing through the main arteries buried within his neck. The impact of the shot sent blood splattering onto his sister's clothing and before she could scream, her lifeless body rolled on the ground next to his.

Merida stood over them, wiping the girl's blood off her blade and onto her trousers. She took a moment to steady her breathing before she knelt down and searched her victim's clothing. Working her way down; she managed to find a bottle of water, another knife and a small rope- not exactly ideal but better than nothing. She blew a stray red-curl off her arm that had been chopped off when she'd slit the girl's throat. Looking down at the brother and sister, she now only felt a dull pang of sadness, not guilt. Death was easy, hell, those two wouldn't have lived much longer anyway. But survival was hard, and Merida would do anything to make sure she won the damn Hunger Games. She had no choice. 

* * *

"You want us to what?!" Jack stared at Hiccup in disbelief. "There is no way that's going to work."

Rapunzel nodded. "I'm sorry, but I'm with Jack on this one. Did you see her in training? She'll kill us."

"Not if we give her a common enemy." Hiccup sighed, wishing that they would understand. "Look, she's not as blood-thirsty as she seems, and she might be the only chance we've got. So unless you've got any other ideas, I say we at least try."

Jack and Rapunzel exchanged glances before they admitted defeat. "Fine." Jack said begrudgingly. He leaned forward, his steady gaze meeting Hiccup's. "But if you're wrong," He motioned towards Hiccup's injured shoulder "Your physco-cousin's revenge plan will be the least of your worries."

Hiccup smiled grimly, praying that he hadn't made another stupid mistake. "I know."

Jack nodded, satisfied, and sat back again. "So where do we find this 'Merida'?"

It was in the early hours of the next morning when Hiccup, Jack and Rapunzel left their camp in search of Merida, the illusive District 7 girl who was a mess of wild red hair and killer instinct. Hiccup knew this was a very risky move, but he also knew that Merida wasn't all she appeared to be- he'd had first-hand experience of that before the Games. His plan was simple, they'd form an alliance with her, kill Calhoun and then 'get rid of her' before she could turn against them. Though right now, their steady search was of no prevail.

"Are you feeling any better?" Rapunzel slowed her pace slightly so she was walking next to Hiccup. "Do you need me to re-tie the bandages?"

Hiccup blushed, noticing Jack's look of amusement. "I'm fine, Rapunzel." He replied quickly, looking at his shoes in embarrassment. He didn't want to be dead-weight and although he was very grateful for Rapunzel's help, she wasn't making his relationship with Jack any better.

"Oh. Okay." She was obviously a bit put off by his rudeness, but then she noticed Jack smirking.

"Jack, be nice." She smiled, giving his back-pack a gentle shove.

He laughed softly as she skipped next to him. "What? I haven't laid a finger on him."

"I know and I'm very proud of you." Rapunzel teased. "But I mean it. We have enough trouble without you bullying the people on your own team."

"Alright, alright." Jack sighed, and without turning to face him, said "I'm very sorry Hiccup. Please continue with your extremely useful plan on how to get us all killed."

Hiccup coughed nervously. "Well... We know the rough area she's in, so first we have to find her. Then we _act_ like we're going to kill her, but I change your minds. And if she doesn't, you know..." He swallowed. "Kill us, hopefully we'll come to some sort of an alliance instead."

"So we're betting our lives on a good-cop bad-cop routine?" Jack asked, narrowing his eyes. "And how do we even find her when we've got a cripple to lug around? We need a better plan."

Rapunzel sighed. "We could always lure her out. She cares about that other guy from her District, Dean. If we kill him, she might come seeking revenge or something."

Jack thought for a moment, but then shook his head. "I doubt she cares about anyone. Plus you're forgetting Dean is in Elsa's group, and there is no way we're ambushing that party of freaks." He aggressively ran a hand through his hair. "It's impossible. We're never going to-"

Hiccup stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the gruesome scene in front of him. Two bodies lay in the clearing, blood covering the ground beneath them. They were the brother and sister from District 5 who had been nice to him during training. One of them could camouflage really well, she could pretty much turn invisible, the other was the fastest runner taking part in the games. Whoever killed them was brutal, someone to avoid at all costs.

Jack whistled, and then without even flinching, approached the sister and began to search her clothing.

"Now I'm all for getting a new blade, but aren't you being a bit..." Rapunzel began, watching curiously from behind Hiccup.

"Insensitive?" He laughed dryly, moving onto the brother's body. "They're not exactly going to care, are they?"

Hiccup swallowed his repulsion and tried to think clearly. "The fact the bodies are still here means they were killed very recently." He tried to ignore Jack's rummaging. "And the arrow in the girl's neck means whoever did this was a skilled archer."

"Punz, look." Jack turned round, holding a small lock of red hair between his fingers. "I think we've found our girl."

* * *

Merida watched from her hiding spot in the buttress roots as three tributes walked out of the clearing where her last victim's lay. The girl with waist-length hair and the District 11 boy looked close, whereas Hiccup, the boy she'd spoken with a few times before the games, appeared to be a new addition to the alliance. Merida had been trailing them for the past hour and had learnt three things. Firstly, they were running from 'Calhoun', a dangerous District 2 girl who had them on a hit-list. Secondly, whilst Rapunzel and Jack were decent fighters, Hiccup was the one who was essential to their plan, the brains behind their fairly cunning operation. Thirdly, that plan involved something to do with her, and they'd spent the last couple of hours searching for any clues to where she might be, ironic, since she'dbeen following _them_.

Merida smiled, rising from the darkness of her shaded hiding spot. She might not be as clever as Hiccup, but the plan she'd just come up with not only got revenge on him, Rapunzel and Jack, if it worked, she would have a clear shot of winning the Hunger Games. This was going to get interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

**A bit of a short one this time because i need to get on with my revision, but hope you enjoy it anyway~**

* * *

"So _this_ is the murderous Merida, who could kill ten grown men with her bare hands?" Jack scoffed at the girl bloody and bruised, kneeling at his feet. "She's useless. I say we kill her."

Rapunzel bit her lip. "I'm sorry Hiccup. He's right. She'll only slow us down."

"Well. That settles it." Jack retrieved the blade from his pocket. "Nice knowing you, Merida."

"Let's not make any rash decisions." Hiccup interjected quickly, standing between them.

His eyes glinted menacingly. "Move out the way. If she's alive she'll get us killed, is she's dead, there's one less tribute we have to worry about."

"Think about it logically. If we help her she'll be in our debt. We've all seen her shoot. Never mind Calhoun, Elsa's gang will be dead in a second if we have her on our team."

Rapunzel approached Merida and knelt down in front of her. She examined the injuries closely, lightly tracing the clotted wound on her forehead. "What happened?"

Merida swallowed and looked at her bloody wrist. "Ah was ambushed by Calhoun. she'd gone tae fin' me by herself, th' sick bastard pinned me tae th' ground an' began tae slice me up." She shook her head as if sickened by the memory.

"How did you escape?" Jack asked sceptically.

Merida looked up and steadily met his gaze. "Ah head-butted her an' stabbed her in th' stomach. While she was wounded, Ah managed tae escape."

Rapunzel rose and brushed the dirt of her trousers. She faced Jack. "The wounds aren't too deep. With my help, she'll heal in a couple of days, to be honest; it's more likely Hiccup will slow us down."

"Fine." Jack turned away, walking towards their next destination. "But she's your responsibility Hiccup." He glanced back at Rapunzel. "Coming Punz?"

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Course I am."

* * *

"I think it worked." Rapunzel smiled as she walked next to Jack. He really liked that smile.

"Me too." He sighed. She squeezed his hand affectionately and he looked down at her, frowning slightly. "Why are you nice to me? You know we're both going to end up killing each other in the end."

She laughed rather girlishly and smacked him on the back of the head. "Because if that happens tomorrow, then let's enjoy today."

Jack eyed her for a moment. She truly was beautiful, and not because of her eyes or her hair. But because she was _her_. A girl who was followed by happiness wherever she went, and by god, he needed some of that.

"Uh… Jack?" She half-sang, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

He blinked, realizing he hadn't spoken for the last couple of seconds. "Uh… yeah?" He mimicked teasingly, reaching out his hand.

She took it, rolling her eyes. "You just spaced-out again, didn't you? What was going on up there?" asked, tapping the side of her forehead.

"I was wondering how a girl like you could come up with such smart things to say."

Rapunzel raised her eye-brows. "A girl like me, huh?"

"Oh come on, I was referring to the hair, Blondie." He laughed, tugging at a stray piece of hair that shaded her eyes.

"Let go!" She said, pushing a hand against his stomach playfully.

"Didn't you have this in a braid to start with?"

"I did, but I didn't like it. I took the band out in the first five seconds of the Games."

"Well that was stupid." He said, grinning at her expression.

She pouted and took and step towards him. He felt his heart jump; the gap between their bodies was now nothing more than an inch. "And why is that, Overland?"

Entangling his fingers in her hair again, he bent down slightly, pulling Rapunzel closer towards him by tugging at her golden locks. "Because I can do this."

"Well, we found them." A deep voice exclaimed. Jack frowned, releasing Rapunzel's hair quickly and turning to face their pursuers

"Great." Calhoun emerged from the trees, smiling menacingly. "Now kill them."

* * *

"Are you _sure_ this is the right way?" Hiccup asked, following the supposedly injured District 7 girl through the tropical jungle. "I don't see Rapunzel and Jack anywhere."

"And Ah cannae believe you're complainin' again!" She sighed angrily. "They probably went off somewhere tae make-out."

"Wait... You think they…" He shook his head. "That's impossible."

"Ah was only jokin' with yeh, Hiccup." Merida laughed. "But Ah wouldn't be surprised…"

"No! Rapunzel would never- not with _Jack_."

"We all do things we regrit in th' Games." She cut down a plant that was blocking the path, motioning at him to follow.

"You were never really injured, were you?" He asked, struggling to keep up with her fast pace.

She glanced back at him and smiled. "You're very observant, Hiccup." She sighed. "No, Ah was not as hurt as Ah pretended tae be."

Hiccup stopped, using a Lianas vine to lean on while he re-adjusted the sling Rapunzel had so carefully constructed. "I guessed as much, but I still don't understand why Calhoun would take her time in killing you, I mean, she seemed smarter than that."

Merida took a step closer to him, a smile that was nothing short of terrifying spread across her pale face. Hiccup was too busy fiddling with his bandage, and did not see the baton that emerged from her pocket, nor did he catch the final look of triumph reflect in her ice-blue eyes.

"Calhoun didn't dae this tae me. Ah did this tae myself." He looked up just in time to see the girl he had so willingly trusted drive an iron bar into his skull.


	4. Chapter 4

Rapunzel cursed under her breath, they were completely trapped. The enormous buttress tree directly behind them spread at least ten metres wide. She was about to reach for her blade when she felt long fingers entwine themselves in hers.

"Rapunzel." Jack said softly, barely moving his lips. "When I say, you have to run."

Her stomach tightened at the thought of leaving him but now was hardly the time to argue about it. Slowly, she nodded her head, keeping her eyes directly on Calhoun, who had a blow-gun aimed directly at her head.

Ralph looked over to her, anxious. "Look, we've got to keep moving. They'll find us."

"Well then, let's do this quickly. Kill Jack, and I'll finish off the girl." She snarled, passing him what looked like a spiked mace and gesturing to Jack. Ralph hesitated. "_Now_."

He nodded, re-adjusting his grip on club and walking towards him. Jack to his left and smiled at Rapunzel before releasing her hand and facing the giant. He looked him up and down then raised his eyebrows mockingly. "You're a coward, Calhoun."

"And you're a filthy traitor. But I'm not the one about to be beaten to death."

Ralph took a swing at him, but Jack's nimble figure allowed him to dodge it easily. "Getting your 'henchman' to do your dirty work? That's low." He said, trying to sound un-phased as he ducked another attack, Ralph narrowly missing his upper-spine. "At least use a better fighter."

Calhoun laughed dryly as she gained on Rapunzel. "As if some dirty District 11 is going to outsmart me. Did you really think I'd fall for your pathetic distractions?" She raised her axe to Rapunzel's neck and smiled triumphantly when she saw Jack's expression change from that of false-confidence to anger. He lunged at Calhoun, and Ralph took the opportunity to deliver a hard blow, the metal head of the mace connecting with his shoulder blade to create a sickening crunch. Rapunzel winced at his howl of pain but recovered quickly, hitting Calhoun over the head with the butt of her knife, and head-butting her when she turned round. Calhoun cursed angrily as she tried to retrieve her blow-gun, but Jack was too fast and swiped it from under her feet.

"You've made a big mistake, boy." She spat as he held her at gun-point. "Ralph, knock him out." But her companion just shrugged his shoulders apologetically and broke into a run, leaving her stranded with Jack and Rapunzel, alone and awaiting her death.

Calhoun pursed her lips, not quite believing how quickly _she'd_ become the prey. "You're not going to win, you know."

Jack smiled and took a step closer to her. "Who's using distractions now?"

"Elsa's gang will find you, Overland, and when they do-" She choked. Rapunzel's knife pierced her square in the stomach, cutting off her final words. Calhoun looked down, putting a hand to the open wound and watching as the blood oozed onto her fingers. Calmly, Rapunzel walked her into the tree, and using Calhoun's own axe, slit the District 3's throat. There she collapsed, not once breaking eye contact with Jack, who watched indifferently from the side. A cannon sounded across the arena.

He walked up behind Rapunzel, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, we need to find Hiccup."

"He's probably with Merida somewhere, he'll be fine."

"Merida?" Jack asked, and then swore under his breath. "She said she stabbed Calhoun in the stomach…"

Rapunzel turned around, wide eyed and breathing heavily. "Merida lied?"

"It doesn't make any sense; we're a bigger threat than Hiccup…" Jack muttered, more to himself than Rapunzel.

She grabbed his hand and shook it desperately. "That doesn't matter! Right now we need to find him!" She began to lead him away when he tightened his grip, stopping her from moving.

"No."

"What?" She hissed. "We need to save him-"

"We don't _need_ to do anything." He said harshly, dragging her back into an embrace. "It's me and you, Punz. Let's survive this together."

Rapunzel struggled out of his hold, trying with everything she had to break free. "He's part of our team, don't you get that?" She tried one last time, looking up into his ice-blue eyes. "Please, Jack? For me?"

He sighed and let her go. "I hope to God you have a plan."

* * *

Merida slouched under the weight of Hiccup's limp body over her shoulder. It had been easy, really, much easier than she had expected. They'd believed every lie she fed to them, and that just proved how useless they would have been as teammates. She even fooled Hiccup with her little sob-story, but whenever she thought of that, she didn't feel triumphant anymore, and she had no idea why. She didn't know him particularly well. She didn't owe him anything. So why did she feel so… guilty?

Merida leaned against a tree, trying to catch her breath. Carrying Hiccup was extremely hard-work, even with his small physique. At this rate she'd never reach Elsa's gang on time. She bent over, letting his body slide off her back and onto the damp undergrowth that covered the jungle floor. Quickly, Merida retrieved her rope and bow from the rucksack that she'd put on Hiccup's back. After tying his hands together with a Constrictor knot, she stood over him, aiming an arrow at his head.

"Hey, wake up." She shouted at him, nudging his face with her foot. "I said move it, ye lazy bastard."

Hiccup began to gain consciousness. His sight was a blurry mess, but he could pretty much make out a mess of red curls and bright blue eyes. "My head…" He groaned, and blinked a couple of times, trying to make the black spots that clouded his vision go away.

"Quit yer whining and stand up." Merida spat, tapping the side of his temple with the head of her arrow. Only then did he notice the rope that bound his hands. Hiccup stared at the know, and began to piece together what had happened before he'd blacked out. He blinked again, looking up to see the very girl that had betrayed him holding an arrow, ready in her bow, aimed at his head.

How could he have been so stupid?

* * *

Jack heaved himself up onto a thick branch of a Kapok tree, and, fairly out of breath, he called to the little blond District 1 who was a good couple of metres ahead of him. "I've got to say Punz, this was pretty smart. I guess you're not just a pretty face…"

Rapunzel looked down, smiling. "You think I'm pretty?" She asked teasingly, testing a flimsy branch with her foot.

He laughed. "I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

"Then you are a liar Jack Overland." She waited for him to catch up with her. "Haven't you had any other sweethearts? You know, back in District 11?"

"So we're sweethearts now? Because I don't think I'm ready for that sort of commitment." He joked.

"Well we've got all the time in the world!" Rapunzel said sarcastically. He climbed up next to her, sheltered by the thick leaves of the Kapok tree. She smacked him over the head again.

"There was one girl." He said as they began to climb again. "But it didn't end well."

"What was her name?"

"Toothina."

"What was she like?" She asked. Noticing his reluctance, she said "I'm just making conversation, Jack."

He thought for a moment and waited for Rapunzel to move on before continuing. "She was good-natured, I guess. Friendly, too. But I think she was just too naïve to live in this world." She nodded and he was suddenly curious about _her_ backstory. "What about you, Punz?"

"Huh? What about me?"

"You know..." He could see her face going a dark pink, and he grinned. "Any past lovers?"

She shook her head, and he was about to tease her obvious lie, when he noticed something flicker in her eyes.

Rapunzel was silent for the rest of the climb, only pointing out a rotten branch once or twice. Jack knew he had touched a nerve, and although he really wanted to find out what it was, he couldn't bring himself to ask her again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay readers, **

**So there's going to be some rather gruesome scenes and strong-language from here on out, so if you are easily disturbed please stop reading now. **

**Thankyou and I hope you enjoy 3**

* * *

It felt like Hiccup had been walking for days. His Capital sneakers were extremely comfortable, but even the gel layer encased heel didn't prevent two large blisters forming on the ankles of both feet. Merida was nothing if not endurable, and she didn't allow stops or water-breaks. They just carried on walking in a general south-direction, Hiccup was beginning to think that not even anacondas could disrupt her fast pace.

"Merida, please." He begged hoarsely. "At least tell me where we're going."

"Unless ye want an arrow through yer brain, Ah suggest ye shut yer mouth." She said without a glance in his direction. She continued to plough on ahead of him.

Hiccup was done with staying silent though. If he was going to die either way, he might as well fight, for dignity's sake. "Oh come _on_, Merida. If you wanted to kill me, I would have been dead the second Jack and Rapunzel left us."

She laughed, a little breathless from the trek. "Ah might not be able to kill ye, but there are worst things than death, trust me."

"Trust _you_? No way."

"Don't beat yerself up about it Hiccup, at least ye were harder to fool than the other two."

He shook his head. "Merida. Tell me where we're going."

At that she stopped, turning round to give him another terrifying grin. "We're gonna give yer dear cousin a visit."

* * *

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Jack asked, and Rapunzel just smiled. It was so like him to be flippant in a situation like this, and so like her to enjoy being the know-it-all.

"Well… Elsa and Hans are cocky, right?" Jack nodded. "So I'm guessing they've picked a clearing as their main base, or destroyed enough trees to create one. If I'm right, we should be able to see them from here."

"And by 'here' you mean…"

"Only the tallest tree in the whole of the arena!" She said exasperatedly.

He nodded, feeling the rush of adrenaline as he stared at the 250 ft drop below them. Jack had his arm round Rapunzel's waist, supposedly for balance, and loved how close her body was to his. His chest was pounding, the wind was rushing through his hair, and he was holding the most gorgeous girl in the whole of Panem. If they weren't on the lookout for a physcopathic arrow-wielding 16 year-old who was holding their ally hostage, it would have been the perfect moment.

Rapunzel turned to him, her green eyes dilated and practically sparkling. "See, I was thinking-"

"_You_ were thinking?" He interrupted, a devilish grin playing about his lips. "…That's new."

She couldn't swat him because of the immediate danger just inches below them, so she gave him one of her worst glares instead, and then continued. "I was _thinking_ that it didn't make sense that Merida wouldn't have risked her life just to get rid of Hiccup. I mean, you're a better fighter, and you really pissed her off during training. Plus, who wouldn't kill you if they had the chance…"

He rolled his eyes at her unsubtlety. "I'm deeply wounded, but go on."

"My point is, I think she believes she has more of a chance of winning the Games if she's part of a team." Rapunzel looked up at him. "And Hiccup has a certain cousin, who would do anything for the chance to kill him."

"Oh my God." Jack blinked. "What you're saying is that…"

"Yup." Rapunzel said, popping the p. "Merida is going to use Hiccup as a bargaining-chip to and join Elsa's Alliance."

"You are a genius."

She grinned. "It gets better." She steadily raising her arm and pointed at a clearing to the south. "I think I found them."

* * *

The artificial sky was quickly darkening as another night took over the arena. Elsa was perched lazily on a rock, trying to ignore her allies constant bickering. Her group was steadily increasing in numbers, and she was very aware that if this carried on they would end up throttling each other _before_ they killed their actual enemies. Most of them were brutal, mindless killing machines, who lacked any common sense or human decency. It made her sick to her stomach.

"You stole my knife again, didn't you? You filthy District 12 bastard." Alex gave Snotlout a hard shove, and the boy took a step closer to him, pressing his forehead to Alex's.

"Don't… Fucking… Touch me." Hans put a hand on his shoulder and firmly pulled him away. Snotlout shrugged him off, far too involved in planning different scenarios of Alex's death.

"If you don't back off," Hans said icily. "Then I will break both of your worthless necks. Understood?"

Alex nodded obediently, but Snotlout just muttered a "Whatever." and walked off. He despised Hans and hated following his command, but he had to listen to him if he didn't want to piss off Elsa. She terrified everyone.

"Alright people." Elsa addressed the group, moving out from under the shade. "I want Cupcake and Dean to come with me to raid the cornucopia. I'm putting Hans in charge, and if I find out you've disobeyed him, well…" She smiled menacingly. "You all know what happened to Dogs Breath."

Snotlout shuddered inwardly. Dogs Breath the Duhbrain might not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was faithful to Snotlout- perhaps a little too faithful. Two days ago, his sidekick had been on cooking duty, and Snotlout had joked that he should poison Elsa's Mung Bean soup. He didn't really think he would do it; no man in their right mind would go against that head-case. But Dogs Breath thought Snotlout was his friend, and had laced her soup with a large dose of Strychnos. She had smelt it before it even reached her hands.

That night all anyone on the camp could hear were the shrieks of pain coming from Elsa's tent, her voice muffled by the unmistakable sobs and whimpers coming from Dogs Breath. The next morning, his disfigured body was found covered in blood and his own urine, and was chucked into a near-by river.

Snotlout had thrown his companion under the bus, and he didn't regret it one bit.

* * *

"Please don't do this." Hiccup begged again, even though he knew there was no point. "Do you know what Snotlout will do to me?"

She laughed. "Ye will be more worried about what Ah'll do to ye, if ye don't _shut up_."

"Merida I…" She turned round. "I, er… need the bathroom." He said, and crossed his legs for effect. Hiccup was a terrible liar, and he knew he wasn't fooling anyone.

Merida raised an eyebrow. "Go behind the bushes over there. If ye try anything funny, I'll shoot ye leg."

He swallowed. "Actually, it's okay. I'll just hold it in."

"Don't ye dare wet yerself."

Smiling, besides himself, Hiccup nodded. "I'll try my best."

They walked a little way in silence before Hiccup spoke again. "You do realize it'll be pitch-black in about an hour."

"What? Ye scared of the dark?" She smirked.

"No! I'm just asking if we're going to stop to make camp."

"Ah'm not stupid, Hiccup." She sighed. "We're not exactly gonna be sitting round the fire singing songs."

"You're doing this for your brothers, aren't you?" Hiccup asked softly.

She didn't reply. Instead Merida stopped walking and sat down, removing her tinder box from the rucksack. "Are ye going to give me a hand or what?"

* * *

**So did you guys like Elsa's/Snotlout's POV? Please review telling what you think! x**


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